Potential Pitfalls of Waking Up
In our interview, Rev. Danielle Hewitt brings her many years of spiritual study and practice to bear on some of the bigger current events that are galvanizing our country. — Editor, Radiance Magazine
You said something remarkable, that the increase in people getting offended by peaceful protests like football players kneeling during a football game’s national anthem or speakers on college campuses with political views opposite that of some students is an indication that people are “waking up” because being more offended, and even hurt, comes from being more sensitive to others, as opposed to lacking empathy. Imagine a child running with scissors. The child has grown to the point where they now have the dexterity to reach up and grab the scissors, but yet doesn’t have the wisdom in place to wield them safely. People are “waking up,” their sensitivities are expanding and they don’t know how to handle what’s happening to them. They’re like an adolescent who’s been given something they just don’t know how to use yet, like the car keys.
It’s a very empowering way to look at all the frustration going on. When you wake up and your sensitivities expand, we used to call it ESP, extra-sensory perception. Although that’s an old word, it’s still a very valid phrase. The sensory perception we already have now comes with an extra layer to it. And it’s brand new. Think about an 18-year-old ready to go to college. What do they do their first year? They party, they make bad decisions. They haven’t yet figured out how to manage all that freedom. So, when we wake up, we have a period of time where it feels a little strange and different and even painful when we’re learning how to manage all this extra information.
What do you think of this current crop of college students? The students who are protesting are awake Indigos and Crystal Children who are feeling with a higher level of intensity the hate and fear coming from white supremacists. Before, we might just have been dismissive of them. Now, as they pick up on all the tense emotions they’re feeling, we’re really affected by it. It’s like the door’s been open and we’re seeing a much fuller spectrum. What we’re seeing is a little scary. You can say it’s like information overload. Before you thought certain political leaders had this much hate and now you see so much more and wonder, “Holy cow, what do I do with all this hate and fear I’m getting from them?” It’s overwhelming for the recipient because they haven’t learned yet how to wield all of that information and not have it penetrate them.
What should they do with all this information and emotion? They have to first accept that this is occurring and then be open to getting educated on it. They could get a self-help book, they could take a course and find a teacher who can help them. They need to understand what’s happening to them because all of a sudden they’re feeling all this intense emotion coming at them and out of them. Now let’s talk about the kneeling football player… First of all, if we understand that we came here by choice and even chose our parents and the type of life we’re going to lead, we can also understand that it would be older souls who would choose to incarnate as an African American in this climate. You would have to be very evolved to risk your entire football career, all of that criticism and negative attention, to kneel down and say something to the effect of, “I want everyone who’s watching this game to know I’m making a statement about Black Lives Matter, that there is an inordinate amount of blacks being killed by police compared to whites being killed by police. That everyone is equal.” It’s not that white lives don’t matter, but we know that they’re saying that’s there’s an energy out there that says “black lives matter less.” Maybe it would be better if they said, “black lives matter as much as everybody else’s lives.”
The same with feminism, which also means equality. But some people persist in declaring it means that women should get more rights. Right. And all anybody is saying, whether you’re talking about feminism, racism, ageism, all the things that put some groups at a disadvantage, is that we all matter equally. Whether you’re Hispanic, Asian, Middle-Eastern, black or white, everyone wants and deserves equality. But they’re so angry and they’re so hurt that they come at it with a very strong Affirmative-Action type of energy attempting to right things. When you have these football players who kneel down, they’re asking the world to acknowledge that things have not been okay before. And that that’s important now for everyone to accept so we can move forward. People are looking at him kneeling down and getting really triggered because they know, at a really deep level, he’s speaking the truth.
He’s doing it peaceably and still people say isn’t the time or place. What is the time and place? No one will see him kneeling in his living room. People’s argument is, “You’re a paid employee of the NFL. This is not the place to be speaking about your personal agenda.” But don’t some actors and actresses stand on the stage at the Academy Awards and use that moment when they’ve got their Oscar in their hand to speak their truth? Of course they do.
When someone can’t rebut the message, they attack the messenger, which can distract and distort the original message. Like how some people say that after gun violence occurs, that is not the time to talk about gun violence. Right, well when is the time? You have an audience, you have a moment. That is the perfect time. But people don’t want to hear it so they will throw anything at it. It took a lot of courage for Colin Kaepernick to kneel down. I’d like to talk about a very difficult subject: how this all relates to what happened in Las Vegas. The President came out and said when you look at the shooter’s background, he had no prior record, he wasn’t a drug user, he had none of the typical profiles that would have led people to understand his motivations.
I heard a frustrated pundit say, “We don’t know why we should hate him.” He wasn’t a typical terrorist, he wasn’t a PTSD veteran, he wasn’t a drug addict. No one can explain what made him snap unless you understand what happens as people are opening up to their sensitivities. What if he had woken up, had all this access to negative stuff, evil things were spoken to him, but he didn’t have the tools of awareness to know that it wasn’t his stuff? Strange things happen with people who are sensitive to energies. For instance, I will say something, it will come out of my mouth, and I’ll stop and pause and ask myself, “Who said that? That wasn’t coming from me.” Even someone who practices every day to prevent other people’s stuff from getting in my field of reference, one or two will sneak in the backdoor if I’m tired or distracted.
It’s about awareness. It makes me wonder about how many acts of violence or abuse or criminal activity really occur in a way where we would say the person is an evildoer or are they being subjected to evil thoughts that are around them, that have penetrated them that they don’t understand or even know are there? They don’t realize they’re being manipulated by a voice in their heads that isn’t theirs and don’t know how to stop it. We live in a stressful world. Housing prices are going up, unemployment is increasing to some degree, upsetting things are going on politically; the corruption. As a people, we need to pay more attention to those around us and not miss those small warning signs, not be so dismissive. This is a wake-up call to be aware of our stress levels, ours and others, and to not dismiss them. It’s a wake-up call to meditate, do yoga, set intentions, give ourselves the time we need for self-care. In other words, to create better practices so we’re in balance and stay in balance. It takes maintenance. And to check in with our neighbors to see if they’re in balance. To restore personal awareness and community so no one ever feels alone.
Rev. Danielle’s life path and passion is to see holistic healers and seekers find their personal power, step into their life path and see for themselves the enlightened being that they truly are. Moving them through their human experience into one of empowerment and watching the ripple effect in our world is her greatest joy. She is an ordained minister, ThetaHealing™Master, Angel Therapy Practitioner®, Reiki practitioner, aromatherapy and crystal consultant, medium, animal communicator and channel of angels and the ascended masters.
First published in Radiance Magazine November 1st, 2017